/THE BEST OF MANCHESTER YOU CAN BANK ON A TOP WEEEKEND
DJ and owner Ben Hiard spinning bangers, firing confetti and feeding people free pizza in the Joshua Brooks basement, along with fellow DJ Tom Hardwick; the top floor of the venue will play host to the city’s first ever Lip Sync For Your Life, a live lip sync battle where anyone brave enough can strut their stuff and lip-sync to their favourite song. Judged by top UK drag queens Marilyn Misandry and Fawna Love, the winner will win £100 with all contestants getting exclusive goodies.
Joshua Brooks / skiddle. com/e/13019808 / Saturday August 26, 11pm to 4am, £6.60 advance 12 Hours of Rave, The White Hotel Saturday 26 to Sunday 27 Bank holiday weekends are made for dancing (probably), and if the regular five hour rave session just isn’t enough, Salford’s uber-cool club The White Hotel is hosting a 12 hour club night from 7pm to 7am. The annual event – because you’ll need a year to recover – will feature sets from the cheerily-named Acid House Death Squad, Black Eyes, and Animal. Homoelectric Bank Holiday Showdown Saturday 26 HomoElectric returns with a threestorey warehouse party at Hidden, uniting the sound of a holy trinity of musical cities. The unused top floor is Manchester – a disco loft party featuring Jamie Bull and Luke Unabomber at the controls, taking you through disco, soul, funk, boogie, hi energy and Italo. On the middle floor – Berlin – Mr Ties plays everything from classical music to Robin S. What will he play this time? On the ground floor – San Francisco – you can expect ‘a dark and sweaty pumpathon’ apparently. San Fran’s Honey Soundsystem joins Will Tramp.
Hidden Manchester M3 1DZ / www. hidden.club / 10pm to 4am / £15 Chalk It Up – International Pavement Festival, Crewe Saturday 26 to Sunday 27 Chalk It Up promises a bank holiday weekend filled with street art. The artists, many of them multi-award winners and world renowned, will be travelling to Crewe from across the globe,including from the United States, Mexico, the Netherlands, Italy, and France. They will use chalk pastels to create impressive 12ft x 16ft pieces of artwork in Crewe’s Market Square as they compete for a series of prizes. During the weekend there will also be opportunities for visitors to give pavement art a go themselves, as well as a children’s competition.
Lyceum Square, Crewe / cheshireeast.gov.uk / Saturday 10am to 6pm; Sunday 12pm to 3pm Manchester Soul Festival, The Printworks Sunday 28 Taking place in various venues within The Printworks, the festival of Soul and Motown bands, artists and DJs, who all give up their time for free in the name of charity, will be running from noon until late on Sunday August 28. Though the full line up is yet to be announced, the acts gracing the main stage will be lucky enough to be performing on the ‘Frank Byrne stage,’ named in memory of the Manchester legend who worked tirelessly to get the festival started and to make it the success it is today. Though the line up is yet to be announced, there will be performances from bands such as The Casino AllStars and the Soul Temptations to souls DJs like Ray Lee.
The Printworks / justgiving.com/ fundraising/ManchesterSoulFestival 2017 / 1pm to 11pm, tickets a minimum £5 donation via the Just Giving page Ladies That Beer, The Marble Arch Sunday 27 The Liverpudlian ladies-only beer group are celebrating the launch of their new beer in Manchester’s Marble Arch pub. A collaborative brew with Manchester’s much-loved Marble Brewery, the beer promises to be a saison ‘with balls’ – a hefty 7 per-center, which will be served along with a selection of handpicked beers by Ladies that Beer.
The Marble Arch / @ladiesthatbeer / 8pm till late Goose Green Festival, Altrincham Saturday 26 to Sunday 27 Part of a wider Altrincham Soundbites festival which takes place throughout August, Goose Green Festival sees local bands and singers take to the stage in the bustling square. Performers this year include Jess Kemp, The Navettes, Plastic House, Blank Cheque and Courteous Thief, plus Green Room regulars The Henry Revue and Mark Coyle. The event will also feature street food and family activities throughout the weekend.
Goose Green, Altrincham / @goosegreenfest / 12pm to 7pm both days, free entry